frankenbeans
Experienced
I’ve never used a compressor before the Axe-Fx, so I’m still trying to learn how to dial it in. I’ve read the manual and understand what each control does for the most part, but I’m trying to determine the best way to walk through and set the controls.
What I want is (what I understand to be) a pretty mild compression—just something to calm the higher transients, not necessarily to squash my playing or unify the dynamics completely. So here’s how I went about dialing it in:
1. Set up a blank, straight-through preset.
2. Strum casually though weakest-output pickup setup and determine average output
2a. For me, that’s the coil-split bridge and neck combo
2b. I saw an average output of -15dB on the on-board output monitor (just eye-balling it)
3. Set the compressor threshold slightly lower than the above number
3a. I set it at -18dB again just to calm some of the higher transients that popup from using a louder pickup or stronger strumming pattern
4. Set the ratio to yank down those higher transients in a way that feels best
4a. I bounce between 2 & 4 (though 4 does feel a bit strong at times)
5. Adjust the output of the compressor to match the output from the straight-through preset above
5a. I had to add 4dB to bring the output of the compressor back up to the -15dB neighborhood
So how do you set up your compressor? Setting recommendations are welcome, but I’m also interested in the process you used to arrive at those settings. Thanks!
What I want is (what I understand to be) a pretty mild compression—just something to calm the higher transients, not necessarily to squash my playing or unify the dynamics completely. So here’s how I went about dialing it in:
1. Set up a blank, straight-through preset.
2. Strum casually though weakest-output pickup setup and determine average output
2a. For me, that’s the coil-split bridge and neck combo
2b. I saw an average output of -15dB on the on-board output monitor (just eye-balling it)
3. Set the compressor threshold slightly lower than the above number
3a. I set it at -18dB again just to calm some of the higher transients that popup from using a louder pickup or stronger strumming pattern
4. Set the ratio to yank down those higher transients in a way that feels best
4a. I bounce between 2 & 4 (though 4 does feel a bit strong at times)
5. Adjust the output of the compressor to match the output from the straight-through preset above
5a. I had to add 4dB to bring the output of the compressor back up to the -15dB neighborhood
So how do you set up your compressor? Setting recommendations are welcome, but I’m also interested in the process you used to arrive at those settings. Thanks!